How To Handle iOS Mail Like A Pro

Over the years I’ve had an on and off again love affair with Apple’s stock iOS Mail app. Here are some of the tricks I’ve learned along the way.

Archive vs Trash in Mail

You have 2 options for getting rid of email. Archive or Trash. Archive adds deleted messages to the All Mail folder where they will remain. Deleted moves the message to the Trash folder where it will remain for 30 days before it’s permanently deleted. To make the selection, head to Settings > Accounts & Passwords, tap on your email account. Now tap Account > Advanced and select Deleted Mailbox or Archive Mailbox.

Get Both Archive and Trash Options

Here’s an easy way to retain quick access to the Archive section, swipe options. If I swipe left on a message located in my inbox, I get the trash option but by going to Settings > Mail > Swipe Options, I can set up an option to swipe right for an Archive Button.

You also have the option to pushand hold on the trash or Archive button and a menu will appear with both Trash Message and Archive Message options.

Get Alerts for Important Threads

If you’re anxiously awaiting an important email reply, you can tell the mail app to send you an iOS alert as soon as the reply arrives in your inbox. From the Inbox, swipe left on the message for which you want to receive an alert, tap More and then tap Notify Me, tap Notify Me one more time to confirm. (To stop the alert swipe left, tap More, then tap Stop Notifying.)

Add Attachments

The Mail App seems to hide the basic function of adding attachments. You won’t find a paper clip icon anywhere. If you want to attach something to an email, such as a PDF file or video you’ll need to follow these instructions. Double tap in the body of your email, tap on the right arrow to get to the Add Attachment option. Now you can choose to add the file from any of the services you have turned on, such as iCloud Drive, Dropbox or Google Drive.

Insert Drawing

Sometimes a drawing says it best. You can insert a drawing into an email by Double tapping in the body of the email. Tapping the arrow on the right until you get to the Insert Drawing function. Here you can jot down your ideas and insert them.

See More of Your Inbox

The default setting in Mail shows two lines of Text for each email in the main view of your Inbox. If you change to None or 1Line, then you’ll be able to see more messages on your screen. To change this setting, go to Settings > Mail > Preview

Collapse Read Messages

If you receive an email containing many threads, it’s easy to lose your place, when navigating it on your iPhone. With iOS 11 Apple has added an option in the Mail’s preferences that helps you keep your place. It’s called Collapse Read Messages, it’s enabled by default. You can find it by going to Settings > Mail, scroll to Threadingsection. With it enabled, all the messages in the thread will be collapsed so when you open a thread you be able to read the newest message.

Most Recent Message On Top

If you prefer to have your most recent messages at the top of an email thread. There’s a setting for that. Head to Settings > Mail and toggle on Most Recent Message on Top

You’ll be able to view the most recent message without having to scroll through all the messages.

Conclusion

Hopefully these quick and easy tips will have you using your iOS Mail App like a pro!

Do you have any favorite tips to share? Post them in the comments section below.

If I can help you in any way shoot me an email or use the Contact form at the top of the page.

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